Friday, March 30, 2012

New Beer Friday - March 30 Edition

Tandem Ciders Smackintosh

By Chris Siciliano

This week we're excited to announce the addition of Tandem to our growing list of awesome Michigan ciders. Just a few weeks back I visited their tasting room near Suttons Bay and could say only nice things about the experience, including this little tidbit:

"Not just another stop on the Traverse City wine trail, Tandem Ciders is a unique experience, a welcoming country pub and tasting room tucked among the glacial moraines and high hilltop orchards of the Leelanau Peninsula." (Read the full review here.)

Fitting that the week we welcome Tandem is the same week The Great Lakes Cider and Perry Association hosts their 7th Annual Great Lakes International Cider & Perry Competition (GLINT) in downtown Grand Rapids. Good luck to anybody and everybody who has a cider/perry entered in this year's competition. Do let us know how you do!

New (and Returning) Beer & Cider

Tandem Ciders The Crabster, $ 9.29/750ml - "Cortland, Northern Spy, MacIntosh, Liberty, Red Crabs and Wild Apples. Gribbles? Crabs? Wild Apples? We roamed the Leelanau countryside in search of some tasty wild apples and mixed them with a few classic apples and some little red crabs. We squeezed them all and fermented the juice to dryness. If you try, you'll get a whiff of the Leelanau County in your nose" (All descriptions courtesy Tandem tasting-room sheet).

Tandem Ciders Pretty Penny, $11.49/750ml - "A blend of over thirty varieties of cider and antique apples. At the end of the season Mr. Kilcherman cleans up his barn and we get all those apples. Taste this cider and buy two bottles, one for sooner, one for later. This cider shows why old school varieties are important and should be propagated."

Tandem Ciders Early Day, $11.49/750ml - "Fameuse, Golden Russet, Ida Red, Red Delicious, Sheep’s Nose, and Cortland. We rounded up apples from friends and family (K-town apples are back!) and mixed them with Mr. Kilcherman’s antique delights to create a mellow, deeply flavored cider with a big mouthfeel. The complexity of this blend will keep you sipping and trying to determine which variety makes this cider so darn good."

Tandem Ciders The Sweetheart, $9.99/750ml - "Jonathan, Rhode Island Greening, and Red Delicious. Slightly sweet and crisply tart--is that citrus in the nose? The Jonathan was discovered in an orchard in 1826.

Big Sky Heavy Horse Scotch Ale, $1.69/12oz - "A full bodied, full flavored ale. Deep garnet red with a dense, creamy head of tan. Stone Thrower is fermented at a lower temperature and the brewing water is softened to be closer to that found in Scotland. Malts: Pale, Crystal Chocolate, Roast. Hops: Hallertau Tradition, East Kent Goldings" (source).

Sam Adams Summer Ale, $1.59/12oz - "Samuel Adams Summer Ale is an American wheat ale. This summer seasonal uses malted wheat, lemon peel and Grains of Paradise, a rare pepper from Africa first used as a brewing spice in the 13th century, to create a crisp taste, spicy flavor and medium body. The ale fermentation imparts a background tropical fruit note reminiscent of mangos and peaches. All of these flavors come together to create a thirst quenching, clean finishing beer perfect for those warm summer days" (source).

Scaldis Triple Blond Ale, $10.99/750ml - "Most Triples have honeyed, praline and burnt sugar (caramel) qualities. In characteristic Dubuisson style, Scaldis Blonde Triple is much drier with higher white sugar notes, redolent of vanilla icing, meringue and marshmallow. Married to these lighter, more delicate sugar notes is a heady aroma of white peaches and pears, a hint of astringency and a tight, Champagne-like sparkle. Suitable for cellaring" (source).

Crown Valley Wooden Nickel IPA, $2.39/12oz - "The IPA is hopped while in the brew kettle and is dry hopped twice more through the brewing process. During fermentation dry leaf hops were added and they also added dry leaf hops during the finishing process" (source).

Crown Valley Farmhouse Lager, $2.39/12oz - "This pale golden beer is light bodied with a crisp and dry flavor. The malt and hop flavors are low in this beer. This lager is very refreshing and thirst quenching" (source).

Crown Valley Plowboy Porter, $2.39/12oz - "This is a full-bodied, dark, rich beer. It has a heavy coffee flavor with a slight hint of licorice. It also has a rich roasted malt flavor. It has a smooth finish" (source).

Deal of the Week

Lindeman's Faro, $3.19/355ml - Compare at $7/bottle, this beer is "a version of Belgium's 'wild-fermented' wheat beer, which is the result of blending Lambic of 'one summer' with old Lambic and chaptalized with candy sugar. Faro is an intriguing balance of wineyness and sweetness. This was probably the beer being served in Breugel's paintings of Flemish Village Life. Faro is a delicious accompaniment of a whole assortment of desserts. Serve cold at 2-3 degrees Celsius" (source).